


The Boy in the Dog Park

by Light_It_On_Fire



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Dogs, Gods, Homelessness, Inspired by Welcome to Night Vale, Local mythology, M/M, Multi, NOT TO REMY, Non-Graphic Violence, Panic Attacks, Past Ingury, Past Violence, Patton is Emile's cousin, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Remy does not accept blood sacrifices, Remy is Literally a God, Tentacles, Yearly Blood Sacrifices, because he does, everyone in this story is super oblivious, kind of, modern mythology, poor Virgil just can't catch a break, uh yeah did i mention that Virgil has, very brief mention of amputation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-10-12 10:59:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17466275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Light_It_On_Fire/pseuds/Light_It_On_Fire
Summary: "Hello listeners! The local police station asked me to remind all of you out of the roads tonight that, here in Gainesville, we believe in a speed limit of 19 miles an hour. If you go 20, well, you're going to jail."Gainesville is a strange town. Virgil should fit right in.Now if only Virgil could figure that out. Luckily, he's got three friends, and maybe eventually something more, to help him along.





	1. The First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan had come to realize you had to expect the unexpected in Gainesville, what with the yearly blood sacrifices and the howling pack of wolves that roam the streets at night. His thoughts had adapted accordingly. And while he knew it was impolite to stare at people with more limbs than average, he was taken aback, not by how their tentacles flailed, but by the small smile tugging at one corner of their mouth.

“All right boy, go play!”  
Logan didn't really want to be here. He knew Roman didn’t either. Standing around talking with others as they watched dogs running around wasn’t his idea of fun. Especially not at six in the morning. He would much rather be home reading the last chapters of his second favorite Agatha Christie novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, (or maybe sleeping. Honestly why on earth did Patton feel the need to wake up at such ungodly hours of the morning? The sun was barely lighting up the horizon) but Patton had begged the two of them to come along.  
In all honesty, he hadn't even wanted a dog (and neither had Roman.) Neither Roman nor Logan had a schedule that allowed them to be home regularly enough to take care of a dog. Roman was an actor and a playwright. He insisted that leaving the house helped him come up with new ideas and get his creativity flowing. He often left the house at any hour of the day, and occasionally even at night. Sometimes he was gone for hours. Occasionally he was gone so long that Logan became concerned. Patton would wave it off, and Roman would always return.  
In Gainesville, it was normal for someone to disappear, only to show up hours later in their living room, having no idea what had happened, or even that any time had passed at all. It had happened to everyone at least once, though Roman seemed particularly susceptible to it. Logan was convinced it had something to do with That Forest. That Forest had a tendency to move around slowly, and it was looming behind the dog park this week. Logan eyed it warily, but it didn't seem to be moving. Currently.  
Logan, though he technically worked regular office hours, worked after hours almost too much. He didn't mind it, he liked his job, but he wouldn't have the time to look after a dog.  
Also, Logan preferred cats. But Patton had made an adorable pleading face at the two of them, and said that “I could take care of him, Logan, PLEASE, look at his cute little face-!” And they had ended up with a puppy. And eventually, they ended up here. At the dog park. At six in the morning.  
He knew he shouldn't have let Patton step into that animal shelter.  
Patton was chattering happily away with Remy, who owned a french bulldog mix named Holly, who was now playing with their greyhound-labrador mix puppy, Blue. Roman was standing to the side and scrolling through his phone, oblivious to anything other than his screen, so Logan was the one who had to keep a watchful eye on the two dogs.  
So naturally when the- boy? man?- crept out of That Forest and sneaked through the unused back gate, Logan was the first to notice. Logan took no real interest in him but ended up observing him out of want for anything else to do. He had no dog with him, though Logan wasn't bothered by that. Many people came to the dog park to pet other people's dogs. The fact that he had come from the woods didn't disturb him either. He knew that there was a row of houses a mile or so back in that direction, though, at the moment, they might be in the middle of That Forest. It's not inconceivable (However unlikely, just taking a stroll through the woods was ill-advised for your health.) that the man (because he definitely was a man, albeit a skinny one) had walked through the woods from one of those houses.  
It was a misty morning, and at this distance, Logan couldn't make out his face. The mystery man, however, seemed to have no trouble spotting Remy’s bulldog and headed closer. The dog, apparently recognizing him, ran over to the man. Now that he was closer, Logan could take note of his appearance. He was wearing an old tattered hoodie which had several patches stitched carefully onto it, ripped skinny jeans, and worn out sneakers. He had dark shadows under his eyes, showing his sleep schedule definitely wasn't the greatest. Logan could sympathize.  
Before he moved in with Patton and Roman, his own sleep schedule had been horrific. Even if he had lived in Gainesville for years now, he was still often kept up by the howling of the Wolves that stalked the streets at night. Also, he got caught up in his work a lot and forgot to get to bed until two o’clock in the morning. Now though, sleeping with the other two calmed him down, and his boyfriends made sure that he got to bed at a reasonable time.  
The man was slumped on to the ground now, the bulldog practically sitting in his lap. Blue had hesitantly walked over to sniff at this new person. When the man turned and caught sight of the puppy, he perked up immediately. Logan’s gaze was caught when he saw a soft smile come over this stranger’s face. The smile blindsided him, looking out of place but beautiful on the man’s face.  
He’s too gay for this.  
Logan was abruptly ripped from his thoughts, staring in shock as the back of the man's jacket burst open. He stiffened, then relaxed, seeing waving tentacles protruding from the man's back, thrashing around in excitement, which was obviously the cause of the man’s jacket ripping.  
Logan wasnt to perturbed by this. Back in high school, Logan’s and Patton’s mutual best friend, Emile Picani, had had similar tentacles that were always twisting calmly through the air behind him.  
If Emile became excited, then the tentacles would whip around quickly. He fondly recalled when the three of them had graduated, and watching Emile cut slits in the back of his gown so he wouldn't rip them open with his flailing. He had been the one who introduced Logan to Patton formally, which Logan would forever be grateful for. He was still in college, studying for his doctorate in psychology.  
With Emile being Patton’s cousin, Logan often suspected Patton wasn't quite human either, but Logan never cared enough to ask.  
Now that he was looking for them, Logan could see that there seemed to be a set of buttons hidden on the back of the man’s jacket that allowed his tentacles free without ripping the hoodie. Ingenious.  
This type of thing was normal in Gainesville. Logan was one of the few who hadn't been born here, and as such, he was one of the few who knew that things like that weren't normal literally anywhere else.  
Logan had moved here with his parents when he was sixteen. He adapted fairly quickly to the teacher whose third and fourth eyes could see into the future and the past, and the yearly blood sacrifice to the local nature god. (His parents had been informed of it by a well meaning neighbor, whom Logan’s father had slammed the door on, mumbling something about ‘damn cultists.’ That year, their family had been struck with a horrible bout of bad luck, and people in school and on the street avoided them like the plague. His parents hadn't made the connection, but Logan had. He was incredibly skeptical, but had managed to pry some answers out of a fellow classmate. She had looked uncomfortable with the entire situation, until he had told her about his parents reactions to their neighbor, and how he had no idea what was going on. Then she had looked sorry for him, providing him with quite a bit of information. She had then directed him to the counseling office with an explanation on how they had pamphlets, books, and other resources for children of ‘Nonbelievers’, and a parting comment of how horrible it must be to be from a family of such. Logan had been confused and incredulous at first, but the facts lined up, and he couldn't ignore that. He had experimented, like any good scientist would, on the next spring equinox. He had crept out of the house and performed the sacrifice, following the instructions as best he could. Miraculously, Logan’s streak of bad luck had ended. His parents hadn’t. He concluded that his experiment was a success, and decided not to mess with these ‘gods’ that inhabited Gainsvile.)  
He was still occasionally surprised by the oddities of Gainesville, but had adapted fairly quickly. His parents, however, had moved away as soon as they could. They had to save up enough money to leave, and by that time, Logan was old enough to make his own decisions. He stayed. He was too dead set on getting a job at Fortune Tellers Tech Inc. (And too far in love with his classmates, Patton and Roman) to even think of leaving.  
He had eventually fulfilled both of his wishes. He had started as an intern at Fortune Tellers Tech Inc., then was hired, and later promoted to the position of the head of his department. He gotten together and subsequently moved in together with Patton, then Roman. They had chosen a small house in a different part of town, so the fact that there was another person with tentacles that they didn't know about was hardly surprising. Logan wondered briefly if Emile and the stranger were related, but decided it wasn't his business. He was suddenly broken out of his thoughts by Remy, who had apparently noticed Logan’s staring and had decided to comment on it.  
“That's Virgil. He comes here and chills with the dogs a lot- Gurl, why are you squealing so loudly? ”  
Patton had apparently finally caught sight of Virgil and was now squishing his cheeks, squealing at the sight of Virgil. He seemed to have a similar reaction whenever he saw something he deemed cute. Which was often. Logan found his reaction to adorableness adorable.  
Nonsensical, yes, but adorable.  
“He’s so cute, Logan! Roman! Isn't he cute? Can we go say hi?”  
Virgil,- who, now that Logan noted his physical features, was rather cute, in a catish kind of way- did not seem to notice Patton’s squealing.  
Patton’s squealing had finally caught Roman’s attention. He looked up from his phone and caught sight of the boy. He whistled.  
“Damn, he is adorable. I’m all for going to chat him up. What about you, Specs?”  
Logan smiled.  
“Gladly.”  
~~~  
In the end, they never got to talk to the very mysterious and cute Virgil. They had approached him, although he didn’t seem to notice them at first. When Logan had tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, he had thrown himself forward and away from them, dislodging the dogs from his lap. He sprung to his feet and whirled around to face them, tentacles quickly slipping back into his jacket. His eyes were wide, showing them the beautiful inhuman-yet-intrancing lavender color of his irises, but they were distracted from the color of his eyes by the panic in them.  
“Hey, are you okay-?”  
Patton was cut off as Virgil turned and bolted for That Forest, vaulting over the fence. As they stood looking at each other, each slightly confused at his reaction, Remy strode over.  
“Yeah, he’s pretty shy. Doesn't like meeting new people. Y’all are new to this part of the city, right Patton?” After Patton nodded he continued on. “Ya know, everybody who comes here is pretty protective over him. Well, I gotta warn you, don’t upset him. You'll have hell to pay if you do.”  
Remy smirked, flashing rather sharp teeth at the three of them. Then, whistling for his bulldog, he walked towards the gate.  
The gate clanged shut, and Remy was gone.  
“Well… Okay.”  
“Shut up, Roman.”  
~~~  
After a half hour spent futilely attempting to chase down Blue, they finally managed to tackle him to the ground. (They meaning Logan and Roman, Patton had stood there, doubled over in laughter. If it were any other situation, Logan would have found it endearing.) Logan frowned at the dirt stain on his tie. He knew he should have worn a darker color tie today.  
The ride home was quiet as the three of them contemplated what had happened that morning. The only voice that filled the car was that of the local radio host, Thomas Sanders, reminding his listeners that the sun would not be rising tomorrow because the sun god was taking a day off. When they got home, they ate an early lunch and then split up for their individual tasks for the rest of the day.  
Patton went grocery shopping, then planted some new chrysanthemums in the small garden outside their house. Roman continued working on his new play, while Logan settled in to read the last few chapters of his novel. Life returned to normal, at least for now.  
~~~  
After issuing the ominous warning to the three and leaving the dog park, Remy took a right turn and walked around the edge of the woods. The second he was out of sight of the park, he took another sharp right turn, and entered the woods. After walking for another ten minutes or so, and having to yank Holly away from a few glowing squirrels, (They gave her a stomach ache if she managed to eat one.) the scenery became familiar. After a few more minutes of walking, Remy broke into a clearing.  
The clearing was a decent size, with a small pond in the middle of it, which fed a quietly bubbling brook. The early morning mist still hung over the perfectly still surface of the pond, though it was slowly being burned away by the rising sun. Large boulders lay scattered about the clearing, piled up against each other. A small tent was set up tucked into one corner of the clearing, along with a camping chair and table.  
What Remy was looking for, however, was none of those things.  
He found his object of interest sitting, perched on a low hanging tree branch. He was still unaware of Remy’s presence as he was staring contemplatively into the water of the steam which ran directly underneath his branch.  
Sighing, Remy tied Holly to a tree, so she couldn’t run off to catch squirrels and then teleported himself to another branch above Virgil. (Ahh, the perks of godhood.)  
Cutting to the chase, Remy simply asked, “Are you alright, Vee? You sort of freaked out back there.”  
Virgil, having not noticed him until this point, startled violently. The back of his jacket burst open again, and his tentacles wrapped around the surrounding branches to keep him from falling off the tree.  
Remy arched an eyebrow. Normally, Virgil had more control over his extra appendages. Something was obviously bothering him.  
Repeating himself, Remy asked, “What’s wrong, Virgil?”  
Virgil avoided his question, letting out a shuddering breath. He tucked his tentacles back into his jacket and reached behind himself to snap the buttons back in place. “God, Rem, you scared me.”  
Remy frowned at Virgil’s non-answer, although Virgil couldn’t see it, as he was still looking down at the water below. Virgil would talk when he was ready, he supposed.  
They sat quietly for another ten minutes at least before Virgil broke the silence with a rush of words that trailed off. “It’s been a year, you know, since…”  
He broke off his train of thought, but Remy knew what he was talking about  
Around this time last year, Remy had been walking in these same woods. (At the time, the woods weren’t ‘cursed’ as they were now, Remy had done that, to keep people away from Virgil. Virgil hadn’t mentioned it, but Remy knew he was thankful. An accidental side effect of that was the fact that there home was now dubbed ‘That Forest’, and it moved, but what can be done?)  
He had discovered Virgil, emaciated, exhausted, and collapsed on the ground. He had taken Virgil back to his own house and nursed him back to health. The healing process that would have normally taken months only took a week and a half. This was probably due to Remy’s powers, but he suspected that Virgil being not quite human had something to do with it too.  
Remy had tried to get the full story out of Virgil, but all that he had gathered was that he had been chased out of his old town and had somehow ended up here, and it had something to do with his tentacles. (Though Remy couldn’t understand what that had to do with anything. Why would they throw him out for that?) He didn't pressure Virgil though, letting him have his privacy.  
A fast friendship had blossomed between the two of them, but when Virgil was healed, he insisted that he didn't want to be a burden. Remy had protested, but after seeing that he couldn't change Virgil’s mind, he had tried to get Virgil an apartment.Unfortunately, Virgil had balked at the thought of being around people. So Remy had used his powers to give him a suitable home in the clearing. He conjured the pond and stream and bought him a tent and other essentials.  
That's how Virgil lived for the rest of the winter, (being in Florida, the weather was nice enough to live outdoors year round) spring, and summer.  
The incoming chilly weather would only serve as a stark reminder to Virgil as how long it had been since he had been forced to flee his home.  
Remy frowned deeply, wishing he could erase Virgil's horrible memories. He leaned down and squeezed Virgil’s shoulder gently in a gesture of understanding.”Well, I’m here if you need someone to talk to.” They fell into a comfortable silence after that.  
A half hour passed and the two of them moved to the bottom of the tree. Virgil had toed off his shoes and socks and was dabbling his feet in the stream. Holly had walked over from where she had been staring intently at a squirrel in one of the other trees to curl up in Virgil’s lap. Remy had finished with his drink and had stared at it in disappointment before remembering that he could just conjure himself a new one.  
Remy was the one who finally broke the silence.  
“I think you should talk to them.”  
Virgil glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, not saying anything.  
“I mean, I talked to them, and they seem like nice people. They were at the park last Sunday too, so if you come next Sunday, you could probably catch them.”  
Virgil only hummed uncertainty. “At least they didn’t see my tentacles-”  
“Um actul-” Remy started but he was cut off by Virgil continuing.  
“But are you sure it would be a good idea-”  
Remy groaned, breaking off Virgil’s sentence. “Gurl, you need to socialize. You’ve been living like a hermit! And they're cute.”  
Virgil spluttered, his face flushing, and swatted him on the shoulder. Remy smirked, standing.  
“I need to leave. You want me to get you anything?”  
“Nope, nope, nope, get out!” Virgil squaked, lifting Holly off his lap and standing, shoving Remy towards the edge of the clearing.  
Teasingly, Remy crowed, “Someone has a crush~” before he snapped his fingers and teleported himself and Holly away before Virgil could push him in the stream.


	2. The Second Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which having a nice conversation does not go as well as the pariceipencts would have liked, and Patton ships Viremy.

They were back at the park again. This time there was a chill in the air, and all three of them were wearing their Midwinter Festival sweaters. Logan had protested that ‘ _it wasn't even All Hallows Eve yet_.’ Patton just laughed at him while Roman forced the sweater over his head.

None of them mentioned it, but all three of them had an apprehensive air about them. It had been a week since they had met Virgil. Though, Logan thought privately, _meeting_ was a rather strong word for someone running away from you when you tried to introduce yourself.

That Forest had moved away and was now encircling the local library. (All the Librarians were trapped, and there hadn't been any contact with them for three days. They were probably fine. On the other hand, Logan hoped it moved soon, because if it didn't he would be racking up huge late fines, with the amount of books he currently had checked out. No one in Gainesville liked late fees. _No one._ Hiring demons from the underworld as your librarians probably was not the library director’s smartest idea.)

Patton had told them yesterday that he was going to the Park with Blue again tomorrow. He hadn’t asked them to come this time, but they dragged themselves out of bed to tag along with him anyways. (Both Roman and Logan had quietly agreed that Patton’s habit of getting up so early was outrageous.)

Patton was the one who finally brought up the topic they were all thinking about. “Do you think he’ll be here?” Before Logan could reply, a voice interrupted

“Hmmm, Gurl, Probab-!”

Roman reacted as dramatically (as usual) to Remy sneaking up on them, shrieking loudly. “MOTHER-”

“FATHER!” Patton quickly cut him off. “Now you!” he squealed, pointing at Logan.

“BROTHER!”

Remy paused, raising an eyebrow at the three of them. “Y’all are insane.”

Logan chuckled internally, and nodded. You would probably have to be crazy to survive in this town, anyways. “That’s fair.”

“Where did you even come from?” Roman gasped, still recovering from his shock.

“I’m a minor chaos god. I can teleport.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Well anyways Patton, how’s your garden going?”

As Patton happily rambled about how his chrysanthemums were coming along, Logan subtly leaned over to Roman.

“What did he mean? He’s not actually a god, right?”

Roman looked affronted, hissing back at him. “What the hell, Logan? Don’t you know it’s rude to question someone’s mortality status? Why would anyone lie about that?”

Logan blinked, sitting back in his original position, suitably chastised. “Ah, my apologies, we didn't really have, uh, that, where I come from.”

Roman’s face softened, and he nodded, straightening back up as well. Though Patton continued to chat with Remy, Logan and Roman started to scan the edges of the park, attempting to spot Virgil.

All three of them were hoping to see the mysterious Virgil again, for various reasons.  

Roman wanted to see the tiny man again, not _just_ because he was adorable, but mostly. Logan wanted to make sure that Virgil was alright. They had startled him badly last week, and he had panicked a little too much to be normal. Patton wanted to apologize to the man, having worried about him all week.

Roman was the one who spotted Virgil first this time. He grinned triumphantly, poking Logan in the side to draw his attention to the approaching figure edging it’s way along the fence.

While Virgil walked over to Holly, who was still on her leash at Remy’s side, Roman and Logan had a quiet squabble where Roman crowded about how he _“Saw him first, suck it, Microsoft Nerd!”_ and Logan glared and hissed back that   _“It wasn’t a competition, Roman._ ”

When Virgil reached Remy’s dog, he plopped down on to the ground, glancing up at them warily.

Remy broke off his conversation with Patton to grin down at him with an almost predatory smirk.

“You did show up, how nice!”

Virgil flushed, scowling as he glared adorably up at Remy. Patton let out a small “Awwww…” at the expression.

Ignoring Patton's reactions, though they did cause his cheeks to darken, Virgil quipped back at Remy. “Shut up Rem. No one asked for your opinion.” Logan raised an eyebrow at the odd exchange, but decided that they must have met up at some point between when the three had seen them last week and this saturday, and this was a continuation of a conversation he wasn't privy to.

Remy snorted at Virgil’s response, but turned to introduce Virgil to the three of them formally.

“This is Virgil, as you already know. Vee, this is Patton,” Patton gave the man a brilliant grin, which caused him to blush a beautiful shade of violet. Observing this, Logan to wonder whether Virgil’s blood was a similar shade. “Roman,” Roman gave a dramatic bow to the man sill sitting on the ground next to Holly. “And Logan.” Logan gave a soft nod towards him.

“Salutations.”

Virgil gave them a nod, but didn’t say anything, his spitfire attitude from earlier gone.

“So Kiddo,” Patton began. “I know we gave you quit the scare last week…” He trailed off, not knowing how to proceed without making the apology awkward, but knowing that pausing was only making the situation more awkward. He looked at his boyfriends, growing slightly more panicked as the seconds wore on, hoping one of them would save him from himself.

Logan took pity on Patton and picked up where he left off, deciding to just go to short and simple route, and get straight to the point.

“We started you badly last week, and we wish to offer our apologies for it.”

Virgil offer them another smile, this one more shaky and hesitant. He flushed an even deeper shade of violet.

“It’s okay. I overreacted.”

And awkward silence came over them before Patton realized that standing in the dog park with the dogs on leashes was kind of silly. Blue was tugging on his leash, eager to run. Patton unclipped him, releasing him onto the various squirrels throughout the park.

Remy followed suit, unhooking Holly from her leash and watching her try to catch up to the hyperactive puppy. When Blue took a rather sudden turn, changing course to pursue a particularly chunky squirrel, Holly, doing her best to follow him, managed to perform a spectacular backflip as she lost her footing. A laugh was startled out of Virgil, which in turn, startled the three of them. They hadn't talked with Virgil much yet, but he didn't seem like the laughing type. A snicker wouldn't seem out of place coming out of his mouth, but not a laugh. Yet here he was, _giggling_ , at Holly.  

_Too cute._

Remy snorted at his dog, then poked at Virgil with his foot. “Go on, go play with the dogs and let the grown ups talk.”

Virgil scowled at him. Then, after a moment of thought, a vicious smirk came over his face that made Logan become wary of what mischief he could be planing. In a few swift movements, Virgil grabbed Remy’s leg from where it was still digging it into Virgil’s side, and gave it a quick yank. Remy yelped and fell back. Before anyone could even react, Virgil was gone, running after the dogs at a speed that was a bit too fast to be human.

Remy, still lying on the ground, sighed. “I’m not sure if I should be angry or not”

“To be fair,” Roman said, “you kind of deserved that.”

~~~

Almost a half hour past with the three making idle chatter between themselves and watching Virgil running around with the dogs. He somehow managed to keep up with Blue, occasionally even out pacing him. At several points, Patton had to gently reach over to shut Logan‘s mouth. (Greyhounds can run up to 43 miles per hour, the fastest human to date had clocked in at only 28 mph, how…?) Virgil finally came back over, painting lightly.

He flopped on the ground, in the same spot he had been sitting in before, next to Remy who had never actually moved from where he had fallen. Logan was half convinced that he was asleep at this point, but was unsure because of the shades that the god was wearing.

Patton happily flummped to the the ground on the other side of Virgil and struck up a conversation.

~~~

Eventually they had all ended up at the ground. Patton was throwing a ball for Blue to chase. Holly, who had worn herself out already, had joined her owner in dozing off. Roman was sprawled out, with his head in Logan’s lap, Logan leaning against the fence of the dog park.

Casual conversation was flowing between them for now. Remy was almost certainly asleep, having started snoring 15 minutes ago. This was the subject of the conversation now, Roman poking fun at him.

“Is he snoring, or trying to start a lawnmower?” He snorted, as a particularly loud sound left Remy.

Virgil laughed, which startled the three once again, still not expecting such a light sound coming from such an emo nightmare.

“No, he snores like that all the time,” Virgil snorted, “especially when he’s sitting up or laying on the ground.”

“How do you know?” Logan’s comment was absent minded, no real purpose to it besides curiosity. He regretted asking when this small smile easily slid of Virgil's face.

~~~

Sometimes, Virgil regretted opening his big stupid mouth. Why did he say that? He was just felt so relaxed with the three, he let slip details that prompted them to ask questions about his past.

Questions he didn't want to answer. Questions that took him right back to when he was sitting in a strange bed with a strange man sitting slumped over next to the bed in a chair. Terrified to move, to make a noise, terrified that he was going to wake up this man. This man who must have healed him, but also must have seen his _deformity_ , the most disgusting part of himself, because he wasn't wearing his jacket and the stranger had _seen_ him and he was going to hurt him, maybe cut off his tentacles, maybe that wouldn't be so bad-

“Virgil, are you okay?”

Oh Damn it. He had zoned out. They probably thought he was a freak now, not they wouldn't have realised it soon anyways because he so _stupid_ and can’t even control his own limbs when he got excited. He-

“Virgil, can you hear me?.”

That was Remy. When did he wake up, did Virgil wake him up? He did, h _e did, he did._ _That was bad bad bad bad._

“It’s gonna be okay, Virgil. Do you need to leave?”

Yes, he wanted to leave! Where was he, where-

Where was he? He was outside. Outside, not in a bed.

Outside. There was dirt. Pebbles pressing into his palms and in a flash he was aware of his hoodie still around him. Not in a bed, or a house. Outside.

“Virgil? Can I touch you?”

The dog park. He was at the dog park, with Remy, who wasn't a stranger, not anymore, who would never do those things to him. Remy was safe.

“Yes.” His answer startled himself. He took a shaky breath to steady himself and repeated “Yes, you can touch me.”

Remmy was hesitant at first, reaching out to rub Virgil’s back. Virgil grabbed Remy’s arm and curled into his side where he was crouched next to him. Virgil shivered in his jacket, breathing coming unevenly.

“Remember your breathing, Virgil” Remy murmured still rubbing his back. “One.., Two… Three…” After a while of that, Virgil was calm enough to remember what had started his attack.

He jerked up, spinning around to face the other three sitting next to him, ready to apologize for freaking out- but they weren’t there.

“Virgil? Are you okay?” Remy asked cautiously, his hand stilling on Virgil’s back.

“Where did they go?” Virgil asked “Why-”

“When you started to zone out, they woke me up. Once they saw that I could handle it, they thought they would be better more of a hindrance to than help. And they left to give you some space.”

“Oh.” Virgil let out the breathe he just now realized he was holding. At least his extra limbs hadn’t busted out of the back of his jacket. Now they knew he was a freak, but at least not _how much_ of a freak he was.

Remy was looking at him now, intently peering over the top of his shades. Virgil shuddered slightly when he met him at Remy's inhuman, hypnotic (literally) eyes. It was times like this that Virgil was reminded that Remy was a god.

“You’re not a freak, Virgil.”  Virgil started, starkly reminded of how Remy was so good at reading his thoughts. Remy had assured him many times that he couldn't actually read minds, but Virgil still doubted sometimes.

He looked at the ground, using to meet Remy's eyes. “I'm tired.” Closing his eyes, slumping into Remy’s chest. “I'm just tired.”  

Thankfully Remy drop it for now, though Virgil had no doubts he would bring it up again later. “I’m going to teleport you to your clearing, close your eyes.” Virgil nodded faintly, and did as instructed.  

He felt a faint squeeze, and heard the whispers when you're alone. Remy had teleported him before, and had already warned him to never open his eyes, otherwise the old gods, the ones who lived in the space between where you were and where you were going, who weren't quite as kind as Remy, was would try to tempt him to stay.

Thankfully teleporting didn’t last long at all, and they were soon surrounded by bird song and the sounds of the stream instead of those Whispers. They were inside his tent, though. He could tell because of the still air, instead of the near-constant breeze of the forest. His eyes refused to open now though, the loss of energy from his attack hitting him in full force.

Remy placed him on his sleeping bag and drew back. Virgil was just awake enough to realize that he was going to leave.

The thought of being alone out in the open hit him hard, as it's often did, and he desperately flung out his hand to catch Remy’s sleeve.

“Don't go, please- please.” Remy didn’t reply, but laid next to him, and Virgil relaxed.

He was lulled to sleep by the sound of Remy’s steady breathing, and the sparrow that was singing in the trees.

~~~

When Roman, Patton and Logan got home, Patton squirreled himself away into his bedroom, and tried to forget about the days events by watching the newest episodes of his favorite cartoon, Moon Stories (An animated show about the adventures of one of the moon goddess’ children.) He wasn't very successful.

Roman has brought him lunch at noon, just a ham and mushroom sandwich and some chips, but other than that, no one bothered him, which he was glad for.

At the moment, he could hear Logan and Roman talking in the living room, but didn’t feel like joining them. He flopped onto his messily made bed and flung his arm over his eyes. The events in the dog park had shaken him. Virgil’s blank, stricken face, breathing shallow, not responding to them was seared into his mind.

He felt tears well up in his eyes thinking of how much terror he must have been in. The poor thing was so scared! And they had left him!

Paton wished they could have stayed and comforted him. But they had woken up Remy, who, once he had come to his senses, was quick to help Virgil. They would have made it worse if they had stayed.

Remy was obviously well equipped to help him. If Patton had to guess, he would say that they were more than friends. They were obviously close. Virgil seemed very relaxed in Remy's presence. Logan may have been confused as to why Virgil would have slept with Remy before, but Patton thought it was rather obvious.

The two down stairs had stopped their conversation, and were coming up the stairs now. The lighter set of footsteps headed for Logan's room, while the heavy pair stopped in front of Patton's own door. Patton smiled, as he knew roman was deciding whether or not to disturb him and knock.

Saving him the trouble, Patton stood up and walked over open the door.

"Hey, Ro." Patton flashed him a small smile. "How’re you doing?"

"I'm good Pat. I actually wanted to ask you how _you’re_ feeling. You looked pretty shaken."

Patton shrugged, refusing to meet his eyes. How do you respond to that? He just saw his friend- at least he hoped Virgil was his friend, despite having only met him recently - having a panic attack. That's not something you got over quickly.

Roman let out a breath, not quite a sigh, but close. He swept Patton into a gentle hug, just as much for his comfort as Patton’s

"Next Sunday, if he comes -," Roman broke off, clearing his throat. "When he comes, we can apologize."

"Yes. " Patton smiled a little brighter. He hooked his chin over Romans shoulder. "I could bring him cookies!"

Roman chuckled. "That you can."

"You talked with Logan?" Patton mumbled, the mood lowered again.

"Yes." Roman released another breath, this time it was definitely a sigh. "I think I managed to convince him it wasn't his fault."

Patton nodded as best he could with his chin still hooked over Roman's shoulder.

"And how is he feeling?"

"I don't know. He's closed off again. But I think he just needs some time alone."

Patton hummed sadly. When their relationship had still been in the beginning stages, Logan had a hid a lot his emotions from the two of them, especially his negative emotions. They had been working on open communication, but it seems that Logan had regressed. Their nerd was a genius, but he struggled with emotions and social cues.

"Well," Patton let out of breath, blowing his bangs out of his face. "Remy is good for Virgil, at least."

Roman hummed, nuzzling into Patton's hair. "We can't just assume that they're together, Patton."

Patton's finally broke the hug and flopped back onto the bed. "We can't just ask him either, though. We don't want a repeat of today."

Roman fell onto the bed next to him, spreading himself out dramatically. "It's not our business, really, but if you're _that_ curious, ask Remy. He might give you a straight answer."

"Yeah..." Patton trailed off tiredly." I just feel terrible about scaring him so badly..."

Roman only replied with a sleepy sigh. When Patton looked at him, he was sleepily blinking at him, half asleep already. It had been a long day. Patton let out of small, sad sigh. Normally, all three of them slept in the master bedroom, but it seemed that tonight they were sleeping in separate rooms. He understood that. Logan needed some space at the moment, but he still missed the extra body in bed. He nudged Roman under the covers, where he murmured sleepily at him, then Patton slipped under the covers next to him.

He fell asleep to the sounds of wolves howling out in the street.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I would love it if you commented!  
> Special thanks to Rosie_Lou for helping me with the story line, and for being my Beta reader!  
> I'm also on tumblr [@light-it-on-fire](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/light-it-on-fire)  
> My writing blog is [@sanders-sides-snippets-n-stories](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sanders-sides-snippets-n-stories)


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